AIG Won’t Sue Government over Bailout - East Idaho News
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AIG Won’t Sue Government over Bailout

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Getty 010913 AIGBuildingFront?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1357763639537STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — AIG decided Wednesday not to join former CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg’s lawsuit against the government over the insurer’s massive bailout in 2008.

During a board meeting Wednesday, AIG said it refused a demand by Greenberg’s Starr International Co. to join the suit in its entirety, “and will neither pursue these claims itself nor permit Starr to pursue them in AIG’s name.”

“America invested in 62,000 AIG employees, and we kept our promise to rebuild this great company, repay every dollar America invested in us, and deliver a profit to those who put their trust in us,” said Robert S. “Steve” Miller, chairman of the AIG board, in a statement after the decision. “To date, AIG has returned $205 billion to America, including a profit of $22.7 billion. We continue to thank America for its support.”

On Tuesday, the company announced that the insurance firm’s board of directors would consider a legal request by financial services company Starr International, of which Greenberg is CEO.

Greenberg asked AIG to take over or allow Starr to continue to pursue the lawsuit that he filed contesting the “constitutionality” of the government’s rescue of AIG in Sept. 2008.

AIG, based in New York City, calls itself the world’ largest insurance organization, with 88 million customers in over 130 countries.

Greenberg’s lawsuit seeks about $25 billion in damages.

Greenberg filed the lawsuit in Nov. 2011 in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. His allegations include that the government’s 2008 receipt of a 79.9 percent equity interest in AIG constituted a wrongful “taking” without just compensation, in violation of the Constitution.

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